Chocolate!

I don't consider myself a chocaholic. Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate, particularly the non-American kinds, but I don't crave it. That being said, we found ourselves in chocolate heaven in the most unusual of places.

When Kelli and I went up to Durness, we heard that we had to stop by an area right outside of town. The area was an old radar station that had been turned into an arts and crafts village. Most of the places were closed for winter, but we found a bookstore/cafe and a chocolate cafe. The chocolate cafe is the home of Cocoa Mountain Chocolate, a delightful little cafe that is known for its incredible truffles, hot chocolates and gifts. They distribute their chocolate worldwide and have even been compared to the chocolate from Belgium, which is about as high a recommendation as there is in chocolate. We were not disappointed.

One advantage of being a part of an arts and crafts village is that you can get your own pottery made. These were made especially for the Cocoa Mountain Chocolate company, and were for sale at the cafe as well (we nearly bought some but I talked Kelli out of it - if there is anything more tempting for Kelli than coffee, it is cool coffee mugs!).

From the outside of the building, which you will see below, you could not possibly be prepared for the interior. It is bright, modern and full of chocolate goodies.

I decided it was in my best interest to nurse a hot chocolate, which they deemed the "best." It was really rich and equally as good. You can see the pottery mug I got, which was more of a bowl than a mug. It might have gotten a bit sticky.

Kelli and I bought some gifts while we were here (not for you), and here is a picture of a box of truffles we bought. My mouth still waters, and I'm not even a big fan of truffles.

Here is the outside of the place. It kind of reminds me of the rainbow factory in San Clemente, mixing one part bomb shelter, one part woodstock and one part modern cafe (with an extra part of awesome).

Kelli and I decided that we needed a box of truffles for the road. The favorite so far has been the coffee and vanilla...mmmmmm.